Friday, 10 June 2016

D. T. Suzuki

D. T. Suzuki, a student of Soyen
Shaku, was largely responsible for introducing Zen to the west through his
books and popular lectures.

Alan Watts told of an incident
at one of Suzuki’s presentations when “—a member of the audience asked him,
‘Dr. Suzuki, when you use the word “reality,” are you referring to the relative
reality of the physical world, or to the absolute reality of the transcendental
world?’ He closed his eyes and went into that characteristic attitude which some
of his students call ‘doing a Suzuki,’ for no one could tell whether he was in
deep meditation or fast asleep. After a minutes’ silence, though it seemed
longer, he opened his eyes and said, ‘Yes.’”

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Contemporary Zen

Rick McDaniel

Rick McDaniel was raised in Indiana and moved to Canada in
1967, where he taught at the University of New Brunswick and Saint Thomas
University before taking up a career in International Development and Fair
Trade. He is the creator of the YMCA Peace Medallion. A long time Zen
practitioner, he is the author of five books on the subject, including Cypress
Trees in the Garden and Catholicism and Zen.